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In this article she explores, why nurse coaching gives nurses the space to explore and strengthen their professional identity from the inside out—not by telling them who they should be, but by helping them uncover what they value, what they need, and who they are becoming. In that sense, coaching helps nurses develop the internal center of gravity that allows confidence and self-leadership to grow.

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Recently, I attended a webinar hosted by the American Organization of Nurse Leaders titled “Developing Confident, Practice-Ready Nurses: Data-Driven Insights for Academic and Health System Leaders.” As a Nurse Educator and Board-Certified Nurse Coach, I am always searching for the best way to help nurses feel confident and practice-ready. I was excited to hear their perspective on helping nurses cultivate confidence in their roles, yet I walked away thinking about something very different. Something I have been trying to articulate for the last few years started to come into focus: Nurses don’t have a confidence problem. They have an identity problem. Or rather, the problem is a mismatch between the professional identity expected of them and the one they are desperate to claim.

Since the beginning of nursing, our profession has been shaped by societal expectations of compliance and subordination. The conscious or subconscious expectation is that we do more with less, we are flexible and adaptable, and we can attend to our own needs as long as everyone else is taken care of first.

But things are changing.

Nurses today are questioning whether those expectations really serve anyone- ourselves, the patients, and the communities we care for. We know we can’t continue doing things simply because that’s the way we’ve always done them. That’s the foundation of evidence-based practice, after all.

And since we are an evidence-based profession, let’s use the evidence to help us.

What is a professional identity?

According to the literature, cultivating a professional identity in nursing (PIN) is a “transformative process of developing a deep, internal sense of self as a nurse and of how a nurse understands themselves through self-reflection, self-regulation, and experiential learning in the nursing role, resulting in thinking, acting, and feeling like a nurse” (Pullen, 2026). It isn’t so much what we do as nurses, but rather who we are as nurses.

It’s the internal sense of who we are, what we believe, what we value, and how we want to show up in our profession. Whether we are consciously aware of it or not, it drives everything about our experience as nurses. And because we take ourselves with us everywhere we go, it doesn’t just dictate our experience as nurses, but it determines our lived experience as humans.

This matters because this is where the mismatch lies- individuals who become nurses have a preconceived understanding of what they think it means to be a nurse and how they want their experience to play out. And yet, when they show up to work as a nurse, their reality is nothing like what they thought it would be. I think this gap is critical to understanding why so many nurses are struggling, and I also believe it is the scaffolding for something even more important: our center of gravity.

What is my center of gravity?

How we define our center of gravity matters because it is the core of who we are. It’s the place from which we make decisions and how we show up in the world. It’s how we know whether we are staying grounded or floating off course. It pulls us back to ourselves when the noise gets too loud.

And it matters because if we don’t have a strong sense of who we are, then the system will happily tell us. We begin to be defined by our job titles, our schedules, and other people’s expectations of us. We become whatever the system needs us to be, and then we wonder why we feel so exhausted, burned out, and disconnected from ourselves.

Why does it matter?

It might seem like this is all just one more nursing theory that we need to learn (and then never think about again after nursing school). But actually, I think it is crucial to being a confident nurse.

Confidence doesn’t come from experience. It comes from being sure of ourselves and appreciating our own qualities and abilities. It comes from being willing to experience any emotion, and knowing that we can rely on ourselves.

Essentially, confidence comes from fundamentally knowing who we are.

The shift

All of this matters because when we know and trust ourselves, we no longer need validation from the system.

We stop asking: What does the system need from me? and shift the question to: What do I need in order to practice as the nurse I want to be?

It matters because nurses don’t need to become more confident so they can better fit into systems that aren’t working. We need nurses who are grounded enough in their own professional identity to help shape what comes next.

So what do we do now?

I don’t believe the answer is more information from the outside. Nurses already know a lot. What I think we need is more information from the inside. We need space to remember who we are, what matters to us, what we need, and who we are becoming.

It’s the work at the heart of the Gravity Nurse Collective: helping nurses find their own center of gravity so they can become more grounded, more self-led, and more intentional about the professional lives they are building.

Because maybe the future of nursing doesn’t depend on nurses becoming more confident in the roles we’ve been given.

Maybe it depends on nurses becoming more certain about who they are—and having the courage to create a profession that reflects that.

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Reference:

Pullen, R. (2026). Defining Who We Are: The Case for a Strong Professional Identity in Nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 65(3), 132-133

At the International Nurse Coaching Association, we are committed to advocating for better health for all. Board Certified Nurse Coaches make a meaningful difference by addressing the whole person and helping individuals build sustainable behaviors that support their physical, emotional, and overall well-being.

Medicare and Medicaid are closer than they have ever been to paying for health and well-being coaching. In its proposed CY 2027 Physician Fee Schedule, CMS has proposed national payment for CPT codes 0591T, 0592T, and 0593T — the health and well-being coaching codes and has named AHNCC Certified Nurse Coach standards among the accepted credentials.

Let that sink in. After years of advocacy, coaching is on the verge of becoming a nationally reimbursed service, and Nurse Coaching’s certification standard is written into the proposal by name. This is a historic win for our profession and for the clients and communities we serve.

But there is a serious problem buried in the details and we have until September 14, 2026, to fix it.

The Problem: Licensed Nurses Treated as “Auxiliary Personnel”

As written, the proposal requires health and well-being coaching services to be performed under the direct supervision of a billing practitioner. In practice, this treats licensed, board-certified nurses as unlicensed “auxiliary personnel.”

Here’s why that’s wrong:

• Health coaching is already within every RN’s independent scope of practice. No state requires supervision for nurses to provide health promotion and behavior change counseling. Nurses have been doing this work — safely, competently, and independently — for generations.

• It contradicts the ANA Code of Ethics. Provision 4 is clear: “nurses have authority over nursing practice and are accountable for it.” Provision 8 states that “nurses collaborate across disciplines as colleagues” — not as subordinates. A supervision requirement turns collaboration into hierarchy.

• CMS’s own proposal is internally inconsistent. The rule values these codes against Chronic Care Management — a general-supervision service. It also allows coaches employed by community-based organizations to work under ‘general’ supervision, while imposing stricter ‘direct’ oversight on licensed, board-certified nurses who might be working in a clinic setting. Holding a nursing license and national board certification should not mean more restriction than an unlicensed coach faces.

• Direct supervision will block access where nurse coaches are needed most. Direct supervision ties coaching to a billing practitioner’s physical presence. That is a practical barrier in rural communities, underserved areas, and telehealth settings — exactly the places where nurse coaches reach clients no one else does.

The Ask: What to Tell CMS

When you submit your comment, make three points:

1. Finalize national payment for CPT codes 0591T, 0592T, and 0593T. Support this rule!

2. Remove the supervision requirement for licensed RNs and APRNs holding AHNCC board certification (NC-BC, HWNC-BC). Instead, CMS should defer to each state’s scope of nursing practice law.

3. Consider allowing licensed Registered Nurses who are Nurse Coaches–Board Certified to bill directly for services.

How to Act — Today

Submit a public comment. Start with our Individual Comment Template as an example — then make it yours. Reword the opening and add one short story of a client your coaching helped (with no identifying details). Stories of chronic condition improvement are especially powerful, because they demonstrate cost savings — the outcome CMS cares about most.

A few tips:

· Use the Templates as a guide and make it your own. Templates for individual nurses, nursing organizations, and employers https://inursecoach.com/cms-insurance-nurse-coaching-comment/

· Keep it to one page. Sign with your name and credentials.

• Make it personal. Identical form letters count as a single comment. Your story is what CMS actually reads.

• Submit your comment through the Federal Register: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2027 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule

• Deadline: September 14, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET.

Engage your organization. Employers, schools, and professional groups can submit letters supporting Nurse Coaching. See the link above for an Organization Template as examples.

Then pass it on. Forward this to at least one Nurse Coach colleague. Every voice multiplies our impact.

For Your Reference

The full proposed rule is available here: CMS Proposed Rule (PDF)

Why Your Comment Matters

Every comment is valuable. In the last cycle, comments from Nurse Coaches persuaded CMS to propose payment for these codes and to name our certification standard in the rule itself. That happened because individual nurses took twenty minutes to tell their stories.

This round decides whether Nurse Coaching practice is fully recognized — paid for, and practiced with the professional autonomy our licensure and board certification have already earned.

Don’t sit this one out. Submit your comment before September 14.

Tiffany Grabinski MSN, RN, NC-BC

Tiffany is a registered nurse with nearly two decades of experience spanning labor and delivery, maternal-child home visiting, and healthcare leadership. She currently serves as Director of Maternal Child Health Programs at St. Luke’s Home Health and Hospice. She is a Board-Certified Nurse Coach, an Integrative Nurse Coach Academy Faculty Mentor, and an active leader in building the Pennsylvania I-NCA chapter.

Grounded in Nurse Coaching and a whole-person lens, Tiffany combines clinical depth with lived experience in her private Nurse Coaching practice, Tiffany Grabinski RN, where she helps women reconnect with themselves during major life transitions, from pregnancy and early motherhood to burnout, health changes, and beyond.

After nearly two decades as a nurse, I’ve noticed something remarkable: the most powerful question in healthcare is often the one that isn’t asked.

I spent the early years of my nursing career in labor and delivery. Later, I moved into maternal-child home visiting with Nurse-Family Partnership, sitting in living rooms with new mothers instead of hospital rooms. It may have been a different setting, but the same pattern kept appearing. Almost every woman I met had learned to answer one question well: what is wrong with you? Very few had ever been asked, “What matters to you?”

The gap between those two questions changes everything that happens next.

Three Questions, Three Eras

Healthcare questions have evolved over time. But over my career, I have seen three major shifts.

What is the matter with you?

This is the question most of us are most familiar with. It centers on the diagnosis. It is the first question most of us are asked by healthcare professionals when we show up for an appointment. There is no doubt it’s an important question. It helps a provider explore symptoms, identify a diagnosis, and treat it. It works well for some acute problems: a broken bone, strep throat, an infection that clears with the right antibiotic.

It works less well for more complex conditions: endometriosis, autoimmune disease, or cancer, where the diagnosis is only the beginning of a much longer story. It can also be ineffective with the areas of healthcare that require significant behavioral changes to manage: diabetes, chronic stress, anxiety, where treating the diagnosis alone rarely changes the day-to-day reality of living with it.

What happened to you?

Trauma-informed care approaches shifted the question toward understanding a person’s history. It recognizes that a person’s past, including hard experiences, shapes how they show up in a care setting today (SAMHSA, 2014). Why someone may freeze when asked about their symptoms, avoid eye contact, or struggle through a physical exam often has a reason behind it. This shift matters. But on its own, it can still leave a person defined by what happened to them rather than by where they want to go next.

What matters to you?

This is the newest question, and the one that is at the heart of every Nurse Coaching session. The concept was introduced in 2012 by physicians Michael Barry and Susan Edgman-Levitan in the New England Journal of Medicine (Barry & Edgman-Levitan, 2012), and it grew into the global “What Matters to You?” movement a few years later, spread by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement into hospitals, clinics, and community health programs around the world (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2022). It doesn’t ignore the diagnosis or someone’s past experiences. It simply refuses to let either one be the whole story. It puts the person back at the center of their own decisions, and asks what they want their health, their care, and their life to look like from here.

Three questions, all with real value, moving us steadily closer to individualized care for the person behind the chart.

Why Nurse Coaching Fully Embodies the Third Question

Plenty of healthcare settings can say the words “What matters to you?” Fewer are actually equipped to answer it. A fifteen-minute appointment does not leave room for someone to figure out what they want, let alone say it out loud. Nurse Coaching is structured for exactly that work.

A Nurse Coach brings a clinical foundation into the room, so they understand the diagnosis and the physiology behind it. They bring trauma-informed awareness, so they understand that a client’s history is shaping the conversation even when it may not be named out loud. Then they do what most of healthcare has no time for: they slow down. They ask reflective questions. They listen for what a client actually values, not just what they may have been told they should want.

This is where Nurse Coaching stands apart from general wellness coaching. Recognized by the American Nurses Association since 2010, Nurse Coaching operates under its own defined scope and standards of practice (American Nurses Association, 2021). It is not motivation without medical literacy, and it is not clinical instruction without genuine partnership. It is both, held together by a professional who has spent years learning to listen before they learned to advise.

Share A New Path to Health with Nurse Coaches Leading Change

Your Most Powerful Ally

An ally is not someone who takes over. An ally is someone who stands beside you, understands the landscape, and helps you move through it in a way that is actually yours.

That is what a Nurse Coach offers. They do not hand you a generic plan and call it personalized support. They help you get clear on what matters most to you, whether that is how you want to move through pregnancy or other life transitions, how you want to build health habits that fit your real life and support the health conditions you’re managing, or how you want to create more harmony in your life. Then they help you build a plan around that answer, informed by clinical knowledge but led by your own values, your own culture, and your own priorities.

A Nurse Coach also helps you carry that clarity into every other room you walk into. Once you have practiced naming what matters to you with someone who is fully listening, it gets easier to say it in your next appointment, in your next difficult conversation, in the next moment someone tries to make a decision about your life without asking you first.

That is self-efficacy. That is advocacy. It starts with one question finally being asked, and finally being answered.

Your Next Step

You are not asking for special treatment. You are asking to be seen, heard, and included in decisions about your body and your life. Nurse Coaching offers a structured, evidence-informed way to make that happen, with someone in your corner who is trained to ask the question that matters most.

If you have ever left an appointment feeling like the real conversation never got a chance to happen, you are not imagining it, and you are not without options. Ask yourself what matters to you, in your health, your care, and your life. Then go find an ally who will listen for the answer.

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References

American Nurses Association. (2021). The art and science of nurse coaching: The provider’s guide to coaching scope and competencies (2nd ed.).

Barry, M. J., & Edgman-Levitan, S. (2012). Shared decision making: The pinnacle of patient-centered care. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(9), 780-781.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2022). Why asking “What matters to you?” matters. https://www.ihi.org/library/blog/why-asking-what-matters-you-matters

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach.

What does it mean to have a truly heart-centered online community of professional friends in today’s fast-moving, shape-shifting psycho-socio-political climate? How does leaning into a safe circle of Nurse Coach colleagues nourish our souls and support our evolution? What happens over time when we practice authentic storytelling, honest check-ins, deep listening, and being fully heard?

These are questions we return to—again and again—without needing neat answers. We come back because the connection is real. We lift each other up toward new possibilities. As holistic nurses, we know something simple and profound: to facilitate healing in others, we must also do our own healing work. So what is it about this warm, self-evolving community that keeps drawing us back?

Our story began in November 2010, when a group of nurses gathered in New York City at the invitation of the newly organized Nurse Coach Faculty. We became the first cohort of holistic nurse coaches in the U.S., stepping into a new role and discovering what “Nurse Coaching” could mean for nursing and for our own lives.

We arrived from many settings and specialties. Our faculty leaders grounded us in the legacy of Florence Nightingale while also inviting modern approaches to whole-person care with The Theory of Integrative Nurse Coaching. What united us was a shared willingness to gather in reflective practice, to learn new skills, and to let our perspectives change.

What Is a Nurse Coach Community?

For me, this community has become a place where I can be fully human: vulnerable, honest, sometimes messy, always met with acceptance. Even on Zoom, the safety is tangible. When we check in, my walls come down. I remember my professional purpose. I listen more deeply. I feel a sense of belonging and direction. Sometimes I bring a topic; sometimes I simply listen and receive. Either way, I leave expanded.

The Benefits of Professional Support for Nurse Coaches

In this piece, we want to share—together—what a supportive healing community has meant to us and why we believe it matters now more than ever.

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Sixteen years ago, en route to NYC for the inaugural Integrative Nurse Coach Academy (INCA) training, I was worried I’d made a mistake. I did not know then that my nursing practice and my way of being in the world would radically change. I certainly did not expect to have an ongoing connection with the women I was about to meet via regularly scheduled calls, aka sacred circles.

I’ve kept a notebook of the majority of our Cohort calls. My notes include reflections, resources, inspirations, and calendar notations of upcoming calls and events. Looking it over, it reflects the richness of our meetings, whether personal or professional.

This group is a place where I ‘come as I am’. I can be my authentic self. When I speak, I feel heard, and I am fully present when others speak. We don’t talk over each other or feel the need to fix or advise each other. We are okay with moments of silence.

We are deeply connected because of our transformational INCA training in NYC. Our Zoom calls deepen the connection across our entire cohort, whether or not our group members are present.

Candy Whitman, RN, BSN, NC-BC

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We were the first Cohort of the Integrative Nurse Coach Program. At that time, we were seeing a proliferation of health and wellness coaches, but Nursing was absent from the conversation. We answered the call with shared hearts and beliefs. As we graduated from the program forever changed, we sought a way to keep the conversation and community going as we took our new skills into the world. We initiated a call 5-6 times a year. Our goal was abundance in our coaching practices; hence the name “Associates Abundance” call. Each meeting opens with meditation and connecting our hearts. Meetings close in a virtual hug.

This community has been so important to me in skill review and enhancement, mutual support, and belief in the power and importance of nurses and nursing. When I entered this community, I expected to learn new skills. I did not expect it to change who I am and how I do “me” in this world. I did not expect the ongoing love and support as we grew ourselves and our practices. It is a gift and a privilege to have a group of colleagues where sacred space is present every time we meet. And it surprises and delights me, given our geographical distribution, that sacred space is sustained over virtual meetings.

Jeanne Browning, RN, MS, AHN-BC, HWNC-BC, HTCP

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It has been a gift to be a part of this group for the past sixteen years. In this community of women who share a commitment to holistic nursing values across diverse work settings, I have been accepted and valued as I am. We have shared joys, sorrows, and accomplishments, and a deep respect for our individual work. And we discussed topics that sparked lively discussion. I am grateful for the way we have learned from each other and grown together, personally and professionally. I hope this article will inspire others to create similar cohorts of Nurse Coaches.

Elaine Brooks, RN, MA

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After nearly 35 years of being a nurse, being in INCA’s first Nurse Coaching cohort in 2010 has energized and inspired my practice over the past 16 years. The excitement of joining the first cohort led by trusted professional nurse leaders felt groundbreaking and very exciting. Practicing as a Nurse Coach affirmed fundamental values that have guided my practice through the years. The ongoing support and community offered to one another through regular virtual meetings have been transformative for my Nurse Coaching practice. My nursing practice is different because of my exposure to and connection with the principles and practices of Nurse Coaching - leading from the heart while holding space and caring for my patients and community. This quote from Peter Wohlleben in his book The Hidden Life of Trees seems particularly relevant to my experience with this cohort over the many years: “A tree can only be as strong as the forest that surrounds it. Their well-being depends on their community.”

Carla Baumann, RN, MSN, HWNC

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In my 48 years of nursing, I have never experienced a more supportive, encouraging, and educational space than with this amazing cohort of nurses. What began as a new path in nursing was more than an educational experience. It became a close-knit circle of women who nurtured each other.

I remember a day when it was suggested we go for a walk on the “High Line” in New York. Having an intense fear of heights, I stated I would pass on the adventure. But these incredible friends encouraged and surrounded me as we climbed the steps and began the walk. I completed the “High Line” experience grateful for the release of fear and the encouragement and support I received.

Each of us has experienced personal challenges over the years, and each time we listen with an open heart and mind, never judging or giving unwanted advice. I have felt this gift on more than one occasion and am forever grateful for each one of these wonderful friends and colleagues.

Louise Simon, RN, HWNC

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Our “Associates Abundance” community of Nurse Coaches means “Family” to me. It has been a safe place for me to share what is sitting in my heart. It has also provided more skills in the art of Listening Deeply and Holding Silence.

Over the years, my participation in our group has helped me shift my perspectives and opened up possibilities that would not have been evident to me.

I have learned to be brave and was able to share my story of feeling rejected. Teachings from the wise Nurse Coach souls in our group allowed me to feel supported and understood.

Because I have been listened to and supported by my colleagues, I am a more responsive Nurse Coach, partner, caregiver, and human being. Our “Associates Abundance” community is definitely my “Family.”

Maxine Bornstein, RN, MS, AHN-BC

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I experience our Nurse Coach community calls as a safe haven to gather in the present moment and share our life’s journeys, challenges, vulnerabilities, and experiences of fear, suffering, and healing. As we gather, we effortlessly enter a flow state, embracing our wholeness and unity, regardless of the chaos in our lives or the world. The gifts I receive are being with others who bear witness to my story, and then I bear witness to their stories. These experiences always evoke a sense of stillness, revealing steps for self-healing. One way I’m different after our gathering is that when our group’s field of consciousness converges, it triggers my inner healing and a sense of well-being I can later recall. As we explore patterns and insights, I always uncover or find a deeper meaning within myself.

Now, in my 61st year of nursing, I believe that Nurse Coaches have the potential to shine and experience unity with their surroundings. They guide patients, families, friends, colleagues, and society. Their light embodies healing. What paths will we illuminate in healthcare and society? What light will we bring? This inherent human quality defines our humanity. Sometimes, human suffering feels like the “dark night of the soul,” as some spiritual writings suggest. However, finding stillness in reflection can bring clarity, empowering us to discover inner strength and explore innovative ways to heal.

Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN, AHNA-BC, FAAN, HSGAHN

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Our goal as a professional community is to connect, educate, and inspire participants. As colleagues, we have learned not to fix each other; we often sit in silence with our humanity, listening with deep interest and care. We are grateful for the awe we feel, and have come to appreciate and motivate each other collectively as we continue to evolve and show up in abundance as Professional Nurse Coaches.

Peggy M. Verret, RN, MA, HN-BC, CHTP, HWNC

For Nurse Coaches, an ongoing professional circle offers more than connection; it becomes a living resource for resilience, renewal, and growth. When we are supported in a community that honors reflection, deep listening, vulnerability, and shared wisdom, we return to our work more grounded and whole. Over these sixteen years, we have needed each other through a pandemic, life transitions, family challenges, joyful grandparenting, moves to new homes, illness and loss, and the ordinary sacredness of being human together. Nurse Coaching in a dedicated community benefits not only us, but also the clients, patients, families, and people we serve. A nourished Nurse Coach is better able to hold space, ask meaningful questions, listen without judgment, and invite healing possibilities. We encourage Nurse Coaches everywhere to create, join, or sustain circles of support where professional friendship, authentic presence, and collective wisdom can continue to strengthen the healing work we bring into the world.

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Elise is a registered nurse with more than 25 years of pediatric experience spanning intensive care, post-anesthesia, sexual assault nursing, ambulatory outpatient clinics with a focus on adolescent obesity care. Grounded in nurse coaching and whole-person care, she combines clinical expertise with compassion as a global medical volunteer, nurse educator, and health technology professional focused on human-centered innovation.

Outside of nursing, Elise can usually be found planning her next adventure, flowing through yoga classes, getting lost in a great book, or hunting down great local food spots. She calls Denver, Colorado home, where curiosity, connection, and lifelong learning are her every day.

After more than twenty-five years as a pediatric nurse working in diverse roles and settings (sexual assault nurse examiner, educator, and nurse in intensive care, post-anesthesia, and outpatient settings, and academics), adolescents continue to teach me some of the profession’s most important lessons: adolescents do not need nurses who have all the answers. They need nurses who listen without judgment and seek to understand them as whole people.

When adolescents participate in creating their own health goals, they can become more engaged in their care and more confident in their ability to sustain change. Nourishing relationships with nurses, family, peers, and themselves significantly influence their health outcomes.

No adolescent should be reduced to a diagnosis, body mass index, or surgical pathway. Each young person carries a story, identity, and vision for their future.

Seeing the Whole Person Behind the Diagnosis

Adolescents preparing for bariatric surgery are navigating far more than a medical procedure. They are carrying years of shame, stigma, isolation, family stress, and internalized beliefs about their bodies (Inge et al., 2017).

In adolescent bariatric care, clinical conversations center on established criteria: weight, body mass index, surgical clearance requirements, psychological readiness, protein intake, and postoperative milestones (Pratt et al., 2021). These elements are essential. Yet they do not represent the full patient experience.

Nurse Coaching invites us to pause and ask a key question (Dossey et al., 2021):

What matters most to this adolescent?

Often, the answer has little to do with weight. Instead, adolescents may describe wanting to participate in sports such as basketball, track, or dance, such as jazz and tap. Other priorities that matter to adolescents include reducing bullying, decreasing social isolation among peers, increasing the energy needed to meet school demands, and feeling comfortable shopping for stylish clothing without shame or embarrassment.

When adolescents are given space to articulate their own vision of health, the dynamic can shift from compliance to collaboration.

Nurse Coaching Creates Partnership Instead of Pressure

In my experience, many adolescents entering bariatric surgical programs have experienced years of feeling judged, corrected, or misunderstood within healthcare environments. Nurse Coaching offers a different relational stance, one grounded in curiosity, partnership, and emotional safety (Dossey et al., 2021).

Instead of telling adolescents what they “should” do, Nurse Coaching invites exploration of readiness, motivation, barriers, and strengths. I have found that reflective questions often open the deepest conversations. I ask every adolescent that I work with three main questions:

1. “What gives you hope right now?”

2. “What worries you most about surgery?”

3. “Who helps you feel supported?”

These questions uncover concerns that might otherwise remain unspoken, including fear of loose skin, shifting identity after weight change, anxiety about new family eating patterns, and perceived pressure from peers or social media. Nurse Coaching creates a sense of psychological safety, allowing adolescents to name and process these experiences without judgment.

Supporting Behavioral Change Through Self-Discovery

Adolescence is a developmental stage rooted in autonomy and identity formation (Beamish et al., 2023). Because of this, directive education alone is insufficient for sustainable behavior change. Nurse Coaching fosters change by helping adolescents connect health behaviors to personal values and experience.

For example, an adolescent I cared for who was preparing for bariatric surgery demonstrated strong knowledge of nutritional requirements. She clearly understood protein goals (essential intake for rapid weight loss), meal timing (small, frequent meals), and postoperative expectations (pain after surgery). Her challenge was not comprehension; it was social integration.

She expressed concern that eating differently at school, particularly consuming small, frequent protein-based meals, would draw attention and make her feel isolated. Through Nurse Coaching conversations, she began to develop strategies that felt realistic and empowering. She practiced planning meals ahead of time (viewing the cafeteria menu beforehand), engaging in mindful eating by slowing down (taking a full 30-45 minutes to eat), and noticing fullness cues without judgment. She identified trusted peers for support (her best friend, who came to monthly appointments with her), and reframed movement as something that could bring enjoyment rather than punishment (she grew to love swimming, yoga, and walking).

Mindful eating, in her experience, became less about restriction (of calories, fried food, junk food) and more about awareness. She did this by pausing for five to ten seconds before taking a bite of food to notice the smell and sight of the food she was going to eat. Movement shifted from compensatory behavior to something she could experience, like walking with friends across the high school campus.

Months later, she reflected:

“Surgery didn’t take away my social life. It helped me feel comfortable enough to like it again.”

That statement had little to do with weight loss and everything to do with healing.

Integrating Mind-Body Approaches Into Care

Anxiety, anticipatory fear, and emotional fatigue are rampant in our adolescent population Pratt et al., 2021). Integrating simple, evidence-informed mind-body approaches can support emotional regulation alongside medical care. Mind-body interventions such as guided breathing techniques (box breathing), creative expression (making a vision board), gentle movement (restorative yoga postures), and participation in peer support groups specific to bariatric surgery have been shown to improve psychosocial outcomes and support adjustment in adolescents undergoing bariatric care (Beamish et al., 2023).

Research supports the use of mindfulness-based and family-centered interventions (e.g., family therapy and spending time together while limiting social media) to improve emotional well-being, adherence, and coping in adolescents with chronic and complex health conditions (Pratt et al., 2021).

These approaches remain within the scope of nursing practice and complement evidence-based clinical pathways. The goal is not to replace medical treatment but to enhance emotional resilience and self-awareness during a transitional period.

Family Dynamics Matter More Than We Realize

In pediatric care, we are never only caring for adolescents. We care within complex family systems shaped by culture, socioeconomic realities, communication patterns, and generational health behaviors.

Nurse Coaching helps shift family engagement away from blame and toward shared accountability and curiosity. Instead of focusing solely on rules or compliance, Nurse Coaching conversations explore how families function within a dynamic, real-world context.

This may include examining family meal traditions (grazing while watching sporting events on television), caregiver stress (increased fast-food meals when a parent consistently works an off shift), and access to healthy foods (proximity to a well-rounded grocery store). These conversations help families recognize that sustainable health change requires compassion, flexibility, and a collaborative effort rather than perfection.

Redefining Success After Bariatric Surgery

Healthcare systems often define success by measurable outcomes: weight reduction, improved laboratory markers, reduced comorbidities, and surgical recovery milestones. These markers absolutely matter and remain essential to clinical evaluation. However, Nurse Coaches are uniquely positioned to also recognize layers of healing that may not appear in the electronic medical record.

Sometimes success sounds like the following statements:

“I feel good in my body for the first time I can remember.”

“I can eat dinner with my friends without feeling weird.”

“I feel better about myself when I am in public.”

“I’m learning not to hate myself.”

These statements reflect a transformation that extends beyond the realm of physiology. They reflect identity reconstruction, emotional healing, and renewed self-concept. This serves as a reminder that healing is profoundly multidimensional.

Final Thoughts

Nurse Coaching has the potential to transform adolescent bariatric surgery care from a procedural experience into a deeply personal, strength-forming, and empowering journey.

When we intentionally make space for self-inquiry, partnership, emotional safety, and self-discovery, adolescents begin to see themselves differently---as more capable and empowered.

As a Nurse Coach, I have the privilege of being by their side during one of the most vulnerable and formative transitions of their lives.

And sometimes, the most meaningful outcomes are not measured in pounds lost, but in self-blame released, confidence reclaimed, and hope restored.

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References

Beamish, A. J., Ryan Harper, E., Järvholm, K., Janson, A., & Olbers, T. (2023). Long-term outcomes following adolescent metabolic and bariatric surgery. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 108(9), 2184–2192. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgad155

Dossey, B. M., Luck, S., & Schaub, B. G. (2021). Nurse coaching: Integrative approaches for health and wellbeing. Springer Publishing Company.

Inge, T. H., Jenkins, T. M., Xanthakos, S. A., et al. (2017). Long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery in adolescents with severe obesity (FABS-5+): A prospective follow-up analysis. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 5(3), 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(16)30315-1

Pratt, J. S. A., Ogle, S. B., Dewberry, L. C., et al. (2021). Outcomes of bariatric surgery in older versus younger adolescents. Pediatrics, 147(3), e2020024182. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-024182

In this personal reflection, she shares how retirement from nursing education became the beginning of an unexpected new chapter. Through honesty, humility, and a willingness to continue learning, she discovered that nurse coaching is more than a new career path—it is a transformative way of partnering with others to support lasting health and healing. Whether you are considering nurse coaching or simply exploring what comes next in your nursing journey, her story offers encouragement, insight, and inspiration.

As a Retired Nurse Educator becoming a Nurse Coach, I asked myself, “How did I get here?” I began to reflect on my career journey. I have been a nurse since 1978 (almost 48 years!).

Practicing nursing for that long is hard for me to imagine, but it shows how I truly love the nursing profession. I worked at the bedside for nearly twenty-four years, three years as a home health nurse, and then for twenty-one years as a nurse educator. The greatest part of my nursing career has been in intensive care. On July 31, 2024, I decided to retire from nursing education.

Now what? That was the big question for a nurse who has dedicated herself to this profession. Being a nurse has been the best years of my life, and I was not ready to retire my nursing license. I searched the internet and made LinkedIn connections. I received emails from the Nursing Network and became intrigued with the idea of becoming a Nurse Coach.

I wrestled with the idea of taking a Nurse Coaching course for four months. My confidence was so high that I believed I could coach without any additional education. After all, I have been a nurse for 40-plus years with multiple degrees. I embraced my spiritual connection for guidance. My final decision was based on my belief that everything worthwhile deserves full preparation. Well, I registered and discovered a whole new world of nursing.

What a culture shock! I thought I knew how to coach, but I was in for a rude awakening. The focus of Nurse Coaching is on empowering and guiding the client towards their own health goals and solutions without suggesting or telling them what to do.

Why not allow people to build on the knowledge and wisdom they already possess, offering guidance and education when needed? Nurse Coaches trust that clients are the experts in their own lives and healing journeys. At the same time, if a client’s plan appears unsafe or could place their well-being at risk, we have the nursing knowledge and professional responsibility to encourage them to seek guidance from their healthcare provider or other qualified healthcare professionals. Nurse Coaches honor client autonomy while maintaining professional and ethical standards and support meaningful, sustainable change.

The client and Nurse Coach co-create a safe environment in which the client can feel comfortable sharing their story. The skills practiced as a Nurse Coach include creating a safe space, deep listening, communicating with empowering open-ended questions, identifying “ah-ha” moments, collaborating to set health goals, among many others.

How do you educate a nurse educator who has been in that role for so many years to shift gears and view the nursing process from a completely different angle? The nursing process was linear throughout my entire career. Now I have learned that the nursing process is not linear when coaching. The client determines the direction of the coaching session. The course prepared me with skills that I was unaware existed in nursing. What if I had placed a shingle out there saying I am a Nurse Coach without this valuable training? I am so grateful for my decision to join the program. The journey was an eye-opening experience.

Becoming a Nurse Coach also allowed me to do a deep dive into myself. I now understand what I lacked in my own personal affairs. The course introduced me to self-reflection and centering practices. I experienced several “ah-ha” moments of my own.

All nurses would benefit from enrolling in a Nurse Coaching program to increase self-awareness and self-evaluation. Even if you decide you do not want to do this as an entrepreneur, the self-development journey will improve your life personally and professionally. Nurses can build capacity to deal with burnout, compassion fatigue, and other issues. Becoming a Nurse Coach helped me to pause, refresh, think, and give myself grace. Ross and colleagues (2018) confirmed my experience through a survey of Nurse Coaches (n=164). They reported that since becoming certified as a Nurse Coach, they have noticed improvements in their personal relationships, health, health behaviors, and job satisfaction.

Becoming a Nurse Coach is one of the best decisions I have made in my career. It is a specialty unique to nursing and can significantly impact the clients we serve.

Ross A, Brooks AT, Yang L, Touchton-Leonard K, Raju S, Bevans M. Results of a national survey of certified nurse coaches with implications for advanced practice nurses. J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. 2018 May;30(5):251-261. doi: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000041. PMID: 29757841.

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Today’s blog is brought to you by Kimberly Wright, MSN, RN, NC, a registered nurse, nurse coach, educator, and community health advocate with more than 25 years of experience across critical care, acute care, long-term care, clinical research, and public health. She serves as an adjunct clinical nursing instructor in New Jersey and is the founder of From My Heart to Yours, LLC, a holistic health and wellness nurse coaching practice focused on stroke prevention, hypertension, diabetes education, and whole-person wellness. Kimberly also serves her community through volunteer leadership in public health and local government, combining faith, education, and evidence-based care to help others live healthier, more purposeful lives.

My Story

I love Tabitha Brown’s story of authenticity. It’s a story of success, financial gain, purpose, loads of creativity, faith and family. I was fascinated that a person could gain so much simply by being themselves. However, I both admired and despised what she represented- genuineness, authenticity, grounded in faith. I was none of those things. I had worn a mask for most, if not all of my adult life and it was beginning to crack, risking my exposure….my nakedness….my shame.

My journey to becoming my authentic self began in late Fall 2023. Post COVID I had an emotional and mental breakdown. I can’t blame it completely on working in ICU during COVID. Honestly, the signs were there in 2018, when I knew I needed a bedside nursing exit plan. I had decided on academia, so I headed back to school for my master’s degree, another item on my list of To Do’s.

Emotional Fatigue

I knew I had been called to nursing; it wasn’t just a career choice for me. I knew I was a good preceptor, focused on supporting critical thinking in novice nurses; I was a good patient educator, incorporating the mind, body, spirit connection at the bedside; and I loved educating on the topic of lifestyle modifications and health prevention strategies.

My desires were coupled with bedside burnout; poor lifestyle choices, poor financial habits and deep insecurity. This all led to my diagnosis of high anxiety with mild depression, which expressed itself through panic attacks and social withdrawal.

In October 2023, convinced that I was surely having a heart attack, I drove myself to the ED. Although my blood pressure was elevated, there was no sign of a heart attack or any other physical illness. As I drove home alone and in silence, I realized that I had had a panic attack. In retrospect, I had had several panic attacks over the past few weeks.

That’s when I decided to see a mental health therapist and committed to finding the right fit for me.

Transitioning

With the help of my therapist, I discovered that I had all the things society said I should have…had achieved all of the goals my career said I should have achieved, but I had lost myself in the pursuit of it all.

Fear-Based

I was depleted of joy, my identity outside of a relationship, education and career didn’t exist. I was exhausted. I didn’t know who I was. I was lost and I didn’t know where to find me. Worst of all, I lived debilitated by fear. Fear of everything going wrong and crashing down around me. I showed up in fear most of the time. I kept up the charade of a life well-lived and it was draining the life out of me.

I wanted something different for the second half of my life. I wanted to live authentically on purpose, and with joy but I didn’t know how to do that. I partnered with a Life Coach, took that opportunity to get clarity and support on speaking up for myself without offending those I genuinely loved, and I knew loved me back. From there, my healing began.

Faith-Based

My therapist told me the definition of courage is doing the thing, even when you’re afraid. She challenged me to find myself. She challenged me to make lifestyle changes to reduce my stress load if I wanted to stay physically healthy. I became very curious about the relationship between stress and illness, which started my journey of studying the impact of chronic stress on physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health.

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Finding Authenticity, Finding My Niche

Through prayer, personal devotion and a commitment to learn what God’s word said about me, layers of deception, incorrect perception, wrong assumptions, and lies were gradually removed.

I began to understand that Maslow’s most fundamental principle: Love, Belonging and Self-Actualization had never been fully established in my life. I had been constantly revisiting my past, attempting to establish this fundamental principle on my own. Instead, I was left with feelings of inadequacy, guilt and shame; leaving me empty, insecure, embarrassed and desperate.

Desperation disguised itself as dependability, high achiever, strong, and reliable- all masks to cover my shame and feelings of inadequacy.

What an uncomfortable place to be, yet, necessary for healing, wholeness and authentic presence. The Holy Spirit was speaking; I needed to do a few things so that I could hear Him and course correct:

1. Let Go- cut off negative influences that fed my fears and desperation

2. Relax- be ok with not being in pursuit of something/someone

3. Seek- truth that would sustain my healing and maintain my growing authenticity

I’m continuing my studies on the impact of chronic stress on physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being, the foundation to my nurse coaching practice.

Conclusion

Finding your authentic self is not a destination, it’s a journey…a continual process of uncovering, discovering, identifying, overcoming and enjoying what comes.

I was created by God, and He said it was good.

Thank you to Melissa W. at Point of Light Life Coaching for introducing me to the beautiful Japanese art form-Kintsugi.

Thank you to Marvin at PR4LIFE Coaching for allowing me the space to gain clarity.

Food for thought-

What would you do if you had no fear?

For more inspirational messages, evidence-based practice tips for healthier living and information about upcoming community-based, small group social health events in New Jersey hosted by From My Heart to Yours aka The People’s Nurse, please visit or follow me at:

Website: www.fmhty.com

IG: @fmhty2024

FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561884237780

Kimberly Wright, MSN, RN, NC

From My Heart to Yours, LLC

A Holistic Health & Wellness Nurse Coaching Service

Rooted in Faith. Driven by Purpose

AI was only used in creation of the title image.

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What if healthcare focused not only on what is wrong, but also on what matters most? In this introductory blog, board-certified Integrative Nurse Coach Linda Kay Coogan explores the growing Whole Health movement and the important role nurse coaches play in helping individuals create lasting lifestyle change, improve well-being, and bring healing back into healthcare.

Linda Kay Coogan, RN, MSHA, FACHE, NC-BC, DipACLM, DrWHL(c), is a board-certified Integrative Nurse Coach, healthcare executive, and doctoral candidate in Whole Health Leadership at the Southern California University of Health Sciences. With more than 30 years of experience in healthcare leadership, quality improvement, and patient-centered care, she is passionate about advancing Whole Health approaches that empower individuals, strengthen communities, and support the healing of mind, body, and spirit. Linda is the Founder and CEO of AlaQuest Center for Performance Excellence and serves as Board President of Bama Wellness Advocacy.

As a board-certified Integrative Nurse Coach and doctoral candidate in Whole Health Leadership, I am passionate about helping transform healthcare into a system that supports healing, well-being, and what matters most to the people we serve.

Healthcare is changing. More people are searching for care that not only treats illness, but also supports the whole person: body, mind, spirit, relationships, environment, and purpose. This is the foundation of Whole Health.

Whole Health asks a different question. Instead of only asking, “What’s wrong?” it also asks, “What matters to you?”

As healthcare systems, employers, and communities work to improve well-being, reduce burnout, and lower the cost of chronic disease, Integrative Nurse Coaches are uniquely prepared to help lead the way.

Nurse Coaches are licensed nurses with specialized training in whole-person, relationship-centered care. We help individuals create meaningful, sustainable lifestyle changes while feeling heard, supported, and empowered in their health journey. Rather than focusing only on disease management, Nurse Coaches partner with people to build resilience, improve quality of life, and support healing and well-being.

Integrative Nurse Coaches bring together the science of nursing, behavior change, lifestyle medicine, and compassionate listening to support lasting transformation. We are trained to address stress, sleep, nutrition, movement, purpose, emotional well-being, and the social factors that influence health outcomes.

The benefits of incorporating Nurse Coaches into Whole Health programs are significant:

• Improved patient engagement and satisfaction

• Better support for lifestyle and behavior change

• Increased resilience and well-being

• Reduced burnout for healthcare professionals

• Stronger connections between healthcare providers and the communities they serve

In a healthcare system often focused on tasks and treatment, Integrative Nurse Coaches help bring humanity, healing, and hope back to care.

The future of healthcare is not just about helping people survive; it is about helping people truly live well. Integrative Nurse Coaches are helping make that future possible.

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This article explores a new approach: building healthcare workforce resilience through Integrative Nurse Coaching, grounded in caring science, resilience theory, and whole-person care—and introduces the Compassion in Balance program as a practical, evidence-informed solution.

Author Deborah Noble MSN, RN, NC-BC

Deborah is a Registered Nurse and a Board Certified Nurse Coach. As the Chief Clinical Officer at Island Health Care, Deborah identified a need to improve employee engagement and satisfaction, with a specific need in the area of employee health and wellness. Deborah offers group and individual coaching sessions for health center employees to help reduce compassion fatigue and burnout, as well as improve overall health and wellness.

The Reality: A Workforce Under Strain

Healthcare professionals are navigating unprecedented levels of stress. Burnout—characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of accomplishment—is now recognized by the World Health Organization as an occupational phenomenon.

Beyond burnout, clinicians are increasingly experiencing:

● Moral distress and moral injury when unable to provide care aligned with their values

● Compassion fatigue from cumulative exposure to suffering

● Emotional and physical depletion due to sustained system pressures

These challenges are not only personal—they have measurable impacts on patient safety, quality of care, and workforce retention (Fernandes et al., 2025).

Rethinking Resilience: More Than Individual “Toughness”

Resilience is often framed as an individual responsibility—the ability to “bounce back” or cope more effectively. However, emerging research tells a different story.

Resilience is:

● Dynamic and multi-dimensional

● Shaped by environment, relationships, and systems

● Co-created—not solely internal

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that while individual resilience is protective, it does not fully offset the effects of high workload, poor leadership, or organizational stress (West et al., 2020). In other words:

👉 We cannot coach individuals to survive broken systems.

Instead, resilience must be addressed at multiple levels simultaneously:

● Individual (coping, meaning, well-being)

● Relational (team support, communication)

● Organizational (leadership, culture, workload)

● System-level (policy, workforce structures)

(Braithwaite et al., 2023)

Theoretical Foundations: A Whole-Person, Systems Approach

Caring Science

Rooted in the work of Jean Watson, caring science emphasizes:

● Whole-person care (mind, body, spirit)

● Authentic presence and connection

● Compassion—for others and self

Traditionally applied to patient care, these principles are equally essential for clinician well-being.

Resilience Science

Resilience science reframes resilience as a system capacity, not just an individual trait. It highlights:

● Adaptability within complex environments

● The role of leadership and culture

● The importance of psychological safety and support

Integrative Nurse Coaching

Integrative nurse coaching provides the bridge between theory and practice. It is:

● Evidence-based

● Whole-person focused

● Grounded in behavior change science

Coaching techniques such as motivational interviewing, reflective inquiry, and goal-setting have been shown to improve well-being and support sustainable change (Wolever et al., 2013).

Why Integrative Approaches Matter

Research supports the use of integrative strategies in building resilience:

● Mindfulness-based interventions reduce stress and improve well-being among healthcare professionals (Burton et al., 2017)

● Psychological empowerment—including autonomy and meaning—is associated with increased resilience and reduced burnout in nurses (Lee et al., 2025)

● Structured resilience training programs improve coping and emotional regulation

These findings point to a critical insight:

👉 Resilience is strengthened when individuals are supported holistically—within supportive systems.

Introducing Compassion in Balance

Compassion in Balance is a nurse-led, integrative coaching program designed to address burnout and build resilience through a whole-person, system-aware lens.

Core Principles

● Resilience is co-created, not individual alone

● Well-being is foundational to effective caregiving

● Sustainable change requires both personal and organizational alignment

Program Structure (Example: 6 Weeks)

A hybrid model combining:

● Group coaching sessions

● Individual reflection and integration

● Experiential practices

Core Modules

1. Awareness & self-assessment

2. Understanding stress, burnout, and nervous system regulation

3. Mindfulness and emotional resilience

4. Meaning, purpose, and values alignment

5. Boundaries and self-compassion

6. Integration and sustainability

Integrative Practices

● Mindfulness and meditation

● Breathwork and nervous system regulation

● Reflective journaling

● Values clarification

Outcomes and Impact

Individual Outcomes

● Reduced burnout

● Increased resilience

● Improved emotional well-being

● Greater sense of meaning and connection

Organizational Impact

● Improved staff retention

● Enhanced team cohesion

● Better patient care outcomes

Why Nurse-Led Coaching?

Nurses are uniquely positioned to lead this work:

● Deep understanding of healthcare systems

● Strong relational and communication skills

● Trusted presence across care settings

Nurse-led coaching bridges the gap between clinical insight and human-centered care, making it a powerful driver of culture change.

A Call to Reimagine Care

Healthcare cannot sustain itself without caring for its workforce. Addressing burnout requires more than individual strategies—it demands a shift in how we design, support, and lead within healthcare systems.

Integrative Nurse Coaching offers a practical, evidence-based pathway forward—one that honors both the human experience of clinicians and the complex realities of healthcare environments.

Final Reflection

What would it look like to care for the caregiver with the same intention as the patient?

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References

Baskin, R. G., & Bartlett, R. (2021). Healthcare worker resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: An integrative review. Journal of Nursing Management, 29(8), 2329–2342.

Braithwaite, J., Wears, R. L., & Hollnagel, E. (2023). Resilient health care: Turning patient safety on its head. BMJ Open, 13, e072136.

Burton, A., Burgess, C., Dean, S., Koutsopoulou, G. Z., & Hugh-Jones, S. (2017). How effective are mindfulness-based interventions for reducing stress among healthcare professionals? Stress and Health, 33(1), 3–13.

Fernandes, C., et al. (2025). The impact of burnout on healthcare outcomes. Healthcare.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156.

Lee, W. T., et al. (2025). Psychological empowerment, resilience, and burnout among nurses.

Marzo, R. R., et al. (2022). Burnout, resilience, and quality of life among healthcare workers. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 814913.

Shanafelt, T. D., & Noseworthy, J. H. (2017). Executive leadership and physician well-being. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 92(1), 129–146.

West, C. P., et al. (2020). Resilience and burnout among physicians. JAMA Network Open, 3(7), e209385.

Wolever, R. Q., et al. (2013). A systematic review of health and wellness coaching. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 2(4), 38–57.

* AI Disclosure: AI was used for brainstorming and to create/edit the image accompanying the blog submission.

Tammy Hurst, RN, NC-BC
Katie Stafford, RN, NC-BC, Certified Hypnotist
Megan Babcock, BSN, RN, HWNC-BC, Certified Mental Health Coach, Brain Health Coach

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Healthcare information has never been more accessible, yet many people feel more overwhelmed than ever when trying to improve their health and well-being.

As Nurse Coaches, we each work with individuals facing different challenges, but we consistently see the same pattern: people are not struggling because they lack information. They are struggling because lasting change requires support, self-awareness, and practical strategies that fit real life.

In this collaborative article, contributing Nurse Coaches share perspectives on why prevention, personalized support, and small sustainable actions matter more than ever. Together, we explore the challenges many people face, the value of person-centered care, and simple tools that can help individuals take meaningful steps toward better health.

Why So Many People Feel Overwhelmed Trying to Improve Their Health

If you have ever searched for ways to improve your health, lose weight, reduce stress, sleep better, or create healthier habits, you have probably discovered one thing quickly: there is no shortage of advice.

One expert says cut carbs. Another says eat more protein. Social media promotes supplements, detoxes, trackers, cold plunges, hormone hacks, and morning routines that somehow require more hours than most people have available. It can feel exhausting just trying to keep up.

Underneath all of it is a quiet thought many people carry every day: I should be doing better.

The truth is, most people are not struggling because they are lazy or unmotivated. They are struggling because they are overwhelmed. Nearly four in ten adults report feeling so stressed that they struggle to function on most days (American Psychological Association, 2024).

People are caring for aging parents while supporting adult children. They are managing careers, finances, relationships, households, appointments, medications, and responsibilities that never seem to end. Somewhere along the way, their own health moved to the bottom of the list.

When they finally decide it is time to focus on themselves, they often enter a health world that feels confusing and difficult to navigate.

They try the programs → They follow the plans → They start over on Monday → They lose motivation → They blame themselves.

What often goes unrecognized is the emotional weight of that cycle.

It goes far beyond food or exercise.

Many people carry years of disappointment from trying hard, starting over, and wondering why nothing seems to stick. They feel disconnected from their own bodies and frustrated by the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it.

Perhaps most painful is the question that quietly lingers beneath the surface:

Why does taking care of myself feel so difficult when I am capable of taking care of everyone else?

The reality is that our bodies often whisper before they scream.

Fatigue. Burnout. Anxiety. Poor sleep. Weight gain. High blood pressure. Prediabetes.

More than 70% of adults report physical or mental health impacts from stress (American Psychological Association, 2024). Trying to determine what actually helps can begin to feel like a full-time job.

The problem is not a lack of information. It is that information alone rarely creates change.

Information is important, but information without support often leaves people wondering how to apply it. This is where personalized guidance can make a meaningful difference.

Why Personalized Support Matters for Individuals and Families

Healthcare has become increasingly complex. Information is available, yet many people feel more confused than ever about what they should do to improve their health.

Medical appointments are often short.

Questions go unanswered.

Recommendations can feel conflicting.

Individuals are expected to leave a brief visit and somehow translate medical advice into sustainable changes that fit within the realities of their everyday life.

At the same time, no two people are the same.

Even when two individuals share the same diagnosis, their experiences of that condition will differ. Their stress levels, family responsibilities, financial realities, support systems, beliefs, and health goals all influence what success looks like.

This is why personalized support matters.

Research has shown that person-centered care improves engagement, confidence, self-management, and overall well-being (Coulter et al., 2015; Coulter & Oldham, 2016). When people become active partners in their care, they are more likely to make meaningful and lasting changes.

This is where Nurse Coaches can make a powerful difference.

Nurse Coaches help bridge the gap between healthcare recommendations and daily life. They guide individuals in identifying their personal strengths and barriers to success, and in co-creating realistic goals tailored to their unique circumstances.

Unlike one-size-fits-all programs, Nurse Coaches recognize that health is about far more than symptoms.

Stress. Relationships. Sleep. Emotional well-being. Work demands. Life transitions. Daily habits.

These factors influence health outcomes every single day.

Many people wait until a serious diagnosis before building a stronger support system around their health. It is often after a diagnosis such as cancer, heart disease, or stroke that coordinated care teams, navigators, and additional resources become available.

Why wait until a crisis occurs?

Research continues to demonstrate that multidisciplinary healthcare teams improve outcomes through coordinated, comprehensive care (Shi et al., 2025). Nurse Coaches can become an important part of a proactive health and wellness team long before a crisis occurs. Through education, accountability, behavior-change support, stress-management strategies, and collaboration with healthcare professionals, they help individuals create sustainable habits that support prevention and long-term well-being.

If you are already navigating a health challenge, partnering with a Nurse Coach can also provide support and coordination throughout your journey.

Personalized support can help you understand your unique challenges and identify what will work best for you. It leaves you with something practical that you can begin using today.

The following reflection process can help you approach challenges with greater awareness, self-compassion, and intention. Because lasting change is rarely built through perfection—it is built through small steps taken consistently over time.

Small Steps That Can Help You Begin Improving Your Well-Being

One of the biggest misconceptions about health is that transformation requires dramatic change.

Many people believe they need a perfect diet, an intensive exercise routine, a complete lifestyle overhaul, or extraordinary willpower to improve their health. When those expectations become overwhelming, they often give up before meaningful change has a chance to take root.

The research tells a different story.

Lasting change is built through small actions repeated consistently over time. Research on neuroplasticity demonstrates that the brain changes through repetition. As healthier behaviors are practiced, the neural pathways connected to those behaviors become stronger, making those actions feel more natural and sustainable over time (Puderbaugh et al., 2023).

This means lasting health improvements are built one small step at a time.

One of the simplest tools you can begin using today is a curiosity-based reflection process that can help you move from self-criticism toward greater awareness and intentional action.

When stress rises, many people immediately move into self-criticism.

Why can’t I get this together?

Why do I keep failing?

What is wrong with me?

Instead of criticism, try curiosity.

Begin with three simple questions: Why, What, and How.

Why am I feeling this way right now?

This question is not about assigning blame. It is about gaining understanding.

One of the most effective ways to move beyond surface-level answers is to ask “Why?” five times. Often, the first answer we give ourselves is only the symptom, not the root cause.

Why am I feeling overwhelmed?

Because I have too much on my plate.

Why do I have too much on my plate?

Because I keep saying yes when people ask for help.

Why do I keep saying yes?

Because I do not want to disappoint people.

Why am I afraid of disappointing people?

Because I worry they will think less of me.

Why does that matter so much?

Because I have tied my worth to being helpful and needed.

What started as overwhelming was not really a time-management problem. It was a belief about worth and approval.

When we take time to understand what is truly driving a challenge, we are far more likely to create meaningful and lasting solutions rather than repeatedly reacting to the same symptoms. Research on root cause analysis suggests that identifying underlying contributors to a problem can help individuals move beyond repeatedly addressing symptoms and instead focus on factors that may be sustaining the issue (Singh, 2024).

What do I need right now?

This is where compassion becomes important.

Many people are incredibly compassionate toward others but become their own harshest critic the moment they struggle.

Imagine speaking to a close friend who was exhausted, discouraged, overwhelmed, or afraid. Most of us would respond with kindness, understanding, and support.

Yet when those same experiences happen to us, we often respond with criticism.

Dr. Kristin Neff’s research demonstrates that self-compassion is associated with greater emotional resilience, lower stress, improved well-being, and a greater ability to navigate difficult situations effectively (Neff, 2023).

Compassion is not avoiding responsibility.

Compassion is acknowledging your humanity while still moving forward.

Ask yourself:

What do I need right now?

Do I need rest?

Do I need support?

Do I need healthier boundaries?

Do I need movement?

Do I need connection?

Do I need more information?

Sometimes the most healing thing we can do is stop fighting ourselves long enough to listen.

How can I take one step forward?

Awareness without action creates frustration.

Once you understand why you feel the way you do and what you need, ask:

How can I take one step forward today?

Not ten steps.

Not a complete life overhaul.

Just one step.

Behavior change research consistently demonstrates that small choices accumulate over time and contribute to long-term outcomes. Repeated actions strengthen habits, and habits influence health, relationships, and overall well-being. While individual decisions may seem insignificant at the moment, the patterns created through consistent repetition often determine whether meaningful change occurs (Lally et al., 2010; Puderbaugh et al., 2023).

The question is not whether you can change everything today.

The question is: Which choice moves me forward?

Maybe that step is:

• Taking a ten-minute walk
• Drinking water instead of another soda
• Scheduling an overdue appointment
• Going to bed thirty minutes earlier
• Asking for help
• Saying no to one unnecessary commitment
• Taking five minutes to pause and breathe

Small steps create momentum → Momentum creates confidence → Confidence creates change.

Better health is rarely built through perfection. It is built through awareness, compassion, support, and small daily choices practiced consistently over time.

Subscribe and Continue the Journey Toward Better Health

Together, we are building healthier individuals, stronger families, and more connected communities one step at a time.

If these conversations resonate with you, we invite you to join a growing community committed to improving health through prevention, partnership, and whole-person support.

Through this publication, Nurse Coaches from diverse specialties will share practical tools, evidence-informed insights, and realistic strategies designed to help you improve your health, reduce stress, build healthier habits, and create sustainable wellness.

You will find resources related to emotional well-being, stress management, prevention, resilience, caregiver support, chronic health concerns, lifestyle habits, and the many factors that influence overall health.

Our mission is not only to help individuals improve their health. It is to increase awareness of nurse coaching and the role nurse coaches play in helping people navigate life’s challenges with greater clarity, confidence, and support.

Whether you are looking to improve your health, support a loved one, prevent future health concerns, or simply feel better in your daily life, we hope this publication becomes a trusted source of encouragement and guidance.

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Artificial intelligence was used to assist with editing, organization, and grammar review. All content was reviewed, revised, and approved by the contributing authors.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Nurse Coaching services do not replace medical care, mental health care, or advice from qualified healthcare professionals. Individuals should consult their healthcare providers regarding questions or concerns about their health and treatment plans.

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